CANBERRA --– General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA‑ASI) today announced the further expansion of Team Reaper Australia.

Sentient Vision Systems, Team Reaper Australia’s newest member, is the only Australian provider of Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) solutions that has been an integral part of every Australian Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) program to date.

The inclusion of Sentient Vision further reinforces Team Reaper Australia as the only viable solution to meet the Project Air 7003 requirement, which now consists of ten Australian companies providing a range of innovative sensor, communication, manufacturing and life-cycle support capabilities.

"General Atomics recognizes the importance of having a robust team of Australian industry partners to support the Air 7003 requirements," said Linden Blue, CEO of GA-ASI. "We continue to be committed to partnerships with Australian industry and to providing a capable, affordable RPA system to the Australian Defence Force."

"Sentient is proud of our close collaboration with the Australian Government. From our foundations of the Defence Science and Technology Group’s Capability and Technology Demonstrator (CTD) program to our proud history of deployments in support of the Australian warfighter, Sentient sees the inclusion of our ViDAR wide area motion imagery payload as a part of Team Reaper Australia in support of the Air 7003 requirement as a reinforcement of Australian leadership in advanced autonomy," said Simon Olsen, director of Business Development, Strategy and Partnerships at Sentient Vision Systems.

Team Reaper Australia, originally consisting of Cobham, CAE Australia, Raytheon, and Flight Data Systems, was first announced at the Australian International Aerospace and Defence Exposition (AVALON 2017) by Linden Blue and Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston, AK, DFC of Defence South Australia. Since Avalon 2017, Team Reaper Australia has expanded to ten companies and now includes Cobham Australia, CAE Australia, Raytheon Australia, Flight Data Systems, TAE Aerospace, Rockwell Collins, Ultra Electronics Australia, Airspeed, Quickstep Holdings Ltd and Sentient Vision Systems.

Project Air 7003 will provide the Australian Defence Force with an Armed MALE RPA system that will include aircraft and Ground Control Stations (GCS) that will be fully inter-operable with Australia’s allies.

General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI), an affiliate of General Atomics, is the leading designer and manufacturer of proven, reliable Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) systems, radars, and electro-optic and related mission systems, including the Predator RPA series and the Lynx Multi-mode Radar. With more than five million flight hours, GA-ASI provides long-endurance, mission-capable aircraft with integrated sensor and data link systems required to deliver persistent flight that enables situational awareness and rapid strike.

Sentient Vision Systems develops and deploys computer vision solutions for defense and civil applications. Since 1999 Sentient has specialized in video analytics with a primary focus on the development of automated detection software for full motion video. With over 1,700 systems deployed, Sentient’s solutions enhance the performance of EO/IR operations for many agencies and forces worldwide.